UBS upgraded McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) to Buy from Neutral based on expectations the it can deliver on 2009 EPS expectations and potential for accelerating share gains.
Bernstein upgraded Nokia (NYSE:NOK) to Outperform from Underperform on valuation following the company's profit warning. Merrill upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral to reflect valuation and Nokia's new product portfolio. Shares were also upgraded to Hold from Sell at WestLB.
B. Riley raised UCBH Holdings (NASDAQ:UCBH) to Buy from Neutral to reflect the improved valuation and the company's stronger capital position provided by the US Treasury investment.
Parexel (NASDAQ:PRXL) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
CTS Corp (NYSE:CTS) was lifted to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
Soleil downgraded Disney (NYSE:DIS) to Hold from Buy to reflect the weakening macro-economic outlook and their belief consensus estimates may be too high. The firm lowered their target to $23 from $40.
Merrill downgraded Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) to Neutral from Buy on expectations PC sales will decline next year amid the slowing economy. The firm lowered Dell's target price to $13 from $22.
Jefferies cut MDS Inc (NASDAQ:MDZ) to Hold from Buy to reflect slowing demand and a lack of catalysts to unlock the company's assets. The firm lowered their target to $10.50 from $15.
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) was lowered to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
Tesco PLC (Other OTC:TSCDY) was downgraded at JP Morgan to Underweight from Neutral.
Merrill downgraded SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) to Neutral from Buy.
Goldman added Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR) to the Conviction Sell List.
Analyst initiations:
Citigroup thinks AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) will benefit from the slowdown in car sales and thinks the recent pullback is overdone. Shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $146 target.
Citigroup also believes Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) will benefit from the slowdown in car sales and started shares with a Buy rating and $35 target.
After Sunway (OTCBB:SUWG) reported higher than expected revenue, Roth Capital thinks the company is poised for substantial growth, but the firm thinks its remaining warrants may keep the shares trading at a modest valuation for a significant amount of time. The firm started shares with a Hold rating and $3.60 target.
Mechel Steel (NYSE:MTL) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Merrill Lynch.
William Blair upgraded Parexel (NASDAQ: PRXL) to Outperform from Market Perform on increased conviction in the company's earnings growth outlook following channel checks.
Friedman Billings upgraded UDR Inc (NYSE: UDR) to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its target to $22 from $26 citing the company's approximate 8% implied cap rate on is vastly improved apartment portfolio.
Citigroup upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Hold from Sell on valuation as they believe weak fundamentals are now priced into the stock.
Goldman upgraded Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to the Conviction Buy List.
Bernstein upgraded DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) to Market Perform from Underperform.
Analyst downgrades:
Deutsche Bank downgraded Align Tech (NASDAQ: ALGN) to Hold from Buy as they believe macroeconomic pressures will limit the company's ability to reach longer term growth expectations. Align's target was lowered to $8 from $14.
Jefferies downgraded shares of Advanced Medical (NYSE: EYE) to Underperform from Buy and lowered its target to $9 from $28 following the company's lowered guidance as they believe macroeconomic pressures affecting LASIK volumes and the unanticipated slowdown in lens care should put continued pressure on the stock.
ThinkPanmure expects the macro slowdown and credit crunch to slow Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) growth and IT capex spending. The firm downgraded shares to Sell from Buy, lowered its 2009 EPS estimate to $1.01 from $1.35, vs. consensus of $1.46, and cut Intel's target to $12 from $24.
MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) was lowered to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna.
Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) was downgraded at William Blair to Market Perform from Outperform.
Old Second Bancorp (NASDAQ: OSBC) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $17 target at Keefe Bruyette. The firm believes the company's exposure to strong markets should generate above-average returns.
Susquehanna assumed Affiliated Computer (NYSE: ACS) with a Positive rating and $55 target and is positive on the company's low levels of customer concentration and high levels of geographic diversification.
Cowen resumed coverage of AnnTaylor (NYSE: ANN) with a Neutral rating, citing the company's share loss to competitors and top-line weakness..
MetLife (NYSE: MET) was assumed with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley.
JMP Securities initiated HFF Inc (NYSE: HF) with a Market Perform rating.
Genpact (NYSE: G) was initiated at Susquehanna with a Neutral rating.
PAREXEL International Corporation (NASDAQ: PRXL) provides contract research, medical marketing and consulting services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. Its Clinical Research Services segment offers clinical trial and data management, clinical pharmacology and related medical advisory services. The Consulting and Medical Communications Services unit offers technical advice on new product development, marketing and regulatory affairs. Subsidiary Perceptive Informatics sells IT system, medical imaging, and related services that help manage clinical trials.
The company pleased investors last week, when it guided fiscal Q4 EPS to 25-26 cents and revenues to $258-$265 million. Analysts had been looking for 26 cents and $259.31 million. Management also guided FY09 EPS to $1.10-$1.20 ($1.08 consensus) and FY09 revenues to $1.11-$1.14 billion ($1.14B consensus). Raymond James subsequently upgraded the stock to "outperform", noting that the firm "will exhibit a strong growth profile due to a strong biopharmaceutical outsourcing market, a large geographic footprint and a diversified service offering."
The choppy market conditions sometime give the impression that growth plays do not exist, but that is far from the case, with Parexel International (NASDAQ: PRXL) providing the evidence.
Parexel International is a leading contract research organization and boasts some of the world's largest drug, biotech and medical device companies among its clients.
Analysts like PRXL's operational breadth: its clinical research services unit offers clinical trial and data management, study design and recruitment, biostatistical analysis, clinical pharmacology, industry training, and publishing services.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: InfoSpace, Parexel and Idearc Inc were today's noteworthy initiations:
B. Riley believes InfoSpace (NASDAQ: INSP) is now positioned to further leverage the growing online search market following divestitures. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $13 target.
Oppenheimer assumed coverage of Parexel (NASDAQ: PRXL) with an Outperform rating and $70 target, as they believe the company is well-positioned to benefit from positive CRO industry trends and sees room for continued growth.
Wachovia initiated Idearc (NYSE: IAR) with an Underperform rating, citing the challenging industry and cyclical pressures.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
Morgan Keegan initiated GMX Resources (NASDAQ: GMXR) with an Outperform rating.
Goldman assumed coverage of Cigna (NYSE: CI) with a Buy rating.
Merrill started PharMerica (NYSE: PMC) with a Neutral rating.
PAREXEL International Corporation (NASDAQ: PRXL) provides contract research, medical marketing and consulting services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. Its Clinical Research Services segment offers clinical trial and data management, clinical pharmacology and related medical advisory services. The Consulting and Medical Communications Services unit offers technical advice in new product development, marketing, and regulatory affairs. Subsidiary Perceptive Informatics sells IT system, medical imaging, and related services that help manage clinical trials.
The company pleased investors last week, when it reported fiscal Q2 EPS of 40 cents and revenues of $284.2 million. Analysts had been looking for 39 cents and $222.8 million. The CEO noted that revenue growth was driven by improvements across all business and geographic reporting segments. Management also guided Q3 EPS to 42-44 cents (43 cent consensus), Q3 revenues to $240-$250 million ($232.11M consensus), FY08 EPS to $1.78-$1.83 ($1.65 consensus) and FY08 revenues to $935-$955 million ($907.20M consensus).
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Atmel, Skyworks, Alcatel-Lucent, Parexel and Map Pharma were today's noteworthy initiations:
Kaufman Bros. initiated Atmel (NASDAQ: ATML) with a Buy rating and $6 target, as they believe the company's increasing focus around its core microcontroller business can drive an improved growth and profitability profile going forward and would be buyers at current levels.
The firm also started shares of Skyworks (NASDAQ: SWKS) with a Buy rating and a $10 target, as they like the company's balanced customer positioning and find the stock attractively valued at current levels.
JP Morgan initiated Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) with an Overweight rating and believes the risks are more than fully priced into shares at current levels.
Parexel (NADSAQ: PRXL) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Broadpoint, as they believe the company's improved execution is already priced into shares.
Deutsche Bank finds shares of Map Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MAPP) attractively valued given the opportunity from the company's two late stage product candidates, UDB and Tempo Migraine. The firm started shares off with a Buy rating and $19 target.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Toyota Motor Corp (TM), J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), SourceFire (FIRE), Kohl's Corp (KSS) and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (MLNM) were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Goldman upgraded shares of Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE: TM) to Buy from Neutral to reflect expectations for greater operating profits and margin expansion in 2007.
Keybanc upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Buy from Hold based on increased conviction in JBHT's ability to increase intermodal volumes, easier 2H and 2008 comps, buybacks and valuation.
Jefferies upgraded SourceFire Inc (NASDAQ: FIRE) to Buy from Hold after their checks indicated better Federal IT spending and solid sales activity.
Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird on valuation.
Millennium Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MLNM) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings, citing recent monthly Velcade prescription trends for the move higher...
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ethanol producers Novacea, Inc. (NOVC) and Aimco (AIV) were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Banc of America downgraded shares of Andersons Inc. (NASDAQ: ANDE) to Neutral from Buy, as well as VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE), Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) and Aventine Renewable Energy (NYSE: AVR) to Sell from Neutral. The firm believes new ethanol supply will depress ethanol's premium to gasoline, drive corn prices higher and pressure distillers' grains values.
Novacea Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVC) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns based on valuation and lack of catalysts until 2H08; the firm believes the company's deal with Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) is a positive.
Aimco Properties (NYSE: AIV) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Lehman, as the firm does not view AIV as an attractive takeover target.
OTHER UPGRADES:
EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns based on valuation.
In the medical products world, it's a long trip from concept to commercialization. Firms making the journey can sometimes lose sight of the trail. When they do, though, they know there is an experienced guide in Waltham, Massachusetts.
PAREXEL International Corporation (NASDAQ:PRXL) provides contract research, medical marketing, and consulting services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. Its Clinical Research Services segment offers clinical trial and data management, clinical pharmacology and related medical advisory services. The Consulting and Marketing Services unit offers technical advice in new product development, marketing and regulatory affairs. Subsidiary Perceptive Informatics sells IT systems and services that help manage clinical trials.
The company pleased investors a week ago, when it reported fiscal Q2 earnings per share (EPS) of 32 cents and revenues of $180.5 million.
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